My theory on Fractals and Dessa origins

[Mephu Tahm Jr.1962]

Dessa was part of Raving Asura's krewe doing some sort of Mists experiment atop Rata Sum. They managed to open some sort of Mists rift, and most of the krewe got sucked in, lost their Tyrian selves, and ended up as infinite looping memories that we see in Fractals. Raving Asura couldn't save them, and wrote a farewell letter to Dessa, possibly committing suicide. Consortium members managed to get a hold of the lab data, thought they could capitalize, and eventually figured out a way to link a Tyrian gate to Dessa's observatory. Since no one in the Observatory actually remembers the past, it would be easy for the consortium to show up and then disappear without anyone remembering that it happened.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

6 hours ago, Mephu Tahm Jr.1962 said:

Dessa was part of Raving Asura's krewe doing some sort of Mists experiment atop Rata Sum. They managed to open some sort of Mists rift, and most of the krewe got sucked in, lost their Tyrian selves, and ended up as infinite looping memories that we see in Fractals. Raving Asura couldn't save them, and wrote a farewell letter to Dessa, possibly committing suicide.

Possible, but I'm a bit doubtful. What lore we have about Dessa makes it seem like their lab around the fractals were fully intentional. As Dessa says:

Player character: I'd rather inquire about this place. Where am I?
Dessa: My laboratory, but it's dangerous until the fractals are stable. Thank the Alchemy you volunteered.
Player character: Who are you?
Dessa: I'm Dessa, krewe chief of the fractals project. We have chunks of the Mists for study, and that's where you come in.

And especially this sylvari-only dialogue with Dessa:

Sylvari character: You have my full attention. Tell me all about your feat.
Dessa: Oh...public speaking. (ahem) My krewe...well, me and my krewe...all of us, we made explorable chunks of reality from the Mists.
Sylvari character: Tell me more about this place.
Dessa: It's my first full lab...with a krewe! From here, we'll study the fractals.
Sylvari character: Tell me more about you.
Dessa: Flattering, but there's not much to tell. I studied at Rata Sum, but it didn't work out. Then came this opportunity.

Additionally, this theory of yours doesn't quite explain Dessa's reaction involving the Uncategorized Fractal - if they were tossed in by a rift, how did they make a lab within the Mists (knowingly so), and why was there a Rata Sum-like cube (which has been confirmed to not be Rata Sum) that they came from?
 

My theory current theory on Uncategorized is that it was another asuran city which was destroyed in the Great Golem Uprising of 1284, an event that is constantly mentioned in asura lore, but never fully explained. The Raving Asura may have been Dessa's father (as she knew people who worked at Thaumanova, she isn't very old, but as she has no knowledge of sylvari, she is pre-1310 AE for sure, quite possibly no later than 1305 AE, as sylvari should be well known to asura by then), and that's why he has a letter to her specifically. Also possible that he was Dessa's mentor.
Whomever he is, the krewe and lab in the Mists appears to be fully intentional and Dessa's very first leadership. In short, 

1. Dessa studied at Rata Sum, and attempted to do her research there. 
2. Due to unstated reasons, possibly related to the Consortium given her hate of them, Dessa moved her experiments to another location. From there, she got access into the Mists, and established a lab there.
3. Over time, her krewe got lost in the Mists Aetherblades-style, and a fractal copy of them was made.

6 hours ago, Mephu Tahm Jr.1962 said:

Consortium members managed to get a hold of the lab data, thought they could capitalize, and eventually figured out a way to link a Tyrian gate to Dessa's observatory. Since no one in the Observatory actually remembers the past, it would be easy for the consortium to show up and then disappear without anyone remembering that it happened.

So regarding this stuff, it's incorrect - and it's not a mystery either, just... unreturned Season 1 content. The Lost Shores release fully showed the Consortium's involvement in discovering the Fractals, though it's not surprising people have long forgotten it as it was an easily missed subplot that happened concurrently to the one-time first karka invasion of Lion's Arch.
The Consortium built an asura gate in Lion's Arch with the intention of activating it to connect to the asura gate that was to be built at Pearl Inslet (this gate was eventually properly built for The Secret of Southsun release 6 months later). When the karka first invaded, the gate was activated, but because there was no receiving gate it glitched out:

Subdirector Blingg: Citizens-coming soon, the newest and most unique resort destination in all of Tyria! Brought to you by the Consortium!
Shortly after invasion begins, at Consortium asura gate:
Subdirector Blingg: No! Our gate! This is–wait. How do I even report this?
Subdirector Blingg: Citizens–do you reel and wonder at the mysteries behind this portal? Don't worry. Soon, all will be revealed, courtesy of the Consortium!

Mail for Fractals of the Mists during The Lost Shores:
Captain's Council, Lion's Arch
A Warning to All Residents and Visitors
The Consortium's asura gate near Fort Marriner is unstable and the Captain's Council has declared all use of this form of transportation to be "at your own risk." While it may be exciting to take an unguided jaunt to an open-ended adventure, we are compelled to put our citizens' and visitors' safety first. Any questions, complaints, or legal claims that resul from use of this asura gate should be taken directly to the Consortium.
If you decide to use this gate, the Council encourages you to be safe, have fun, and not die.
—The Captain's Council

This resulted in the crazed appearance of the gate, which has been lost with Battle for Lion's Arch when the access point to Fractals was moved (perhaps Memory of Lion's Arch still shows the original glitchy gate design). In short, the discovering of the Fractals was fully unintentional.
Additionally, though the English wiki lacks this, Blingg had dialogue before The Lost Shores that further indicates the gate was intended to go to Southsun. The German wiki has it here. Machine translation into English:

Subdirector Blingg: I see you're interested in the Consortium's latest fantastic attraction. If you're into adventure, then you're in luck.
Player character (Charm): I am listening. That sounds very interesting.

Subdirector Blingg: Only if you think paradise is "interesting". Coming soon: warm sand, exotic fish dishes and fantastic  [ sic ] service thanks to our qualified and always friendly staff.
Player character: Wonderful. I'm definitely interested.
Subdirector Blingg: Then keep an eye on this! The consortium will open a really chic holiday destination in the next few weeks.

Player character (Dignity): I like to try new things. Tell me more about this.

Subdirector Blingg: With pleasure. Just think of warm sand, crystal clear water, exotic fish dishes and  [ sic ] fantastic service provided by our staff.
Player character: That sounds really great.
Subdirector Blingg: Then keep an eye on this! The consortium will open a really chic holiday destination in the next few weeks.

TL;DR

Consortium's discovery of the Fractals and Dessa's lab was 100% purely unintended, and they simply decided to make a profit of it. Dessa has zero relation to the Consortium and outright hates them, but also has no idea that the asura gate links to Lion's Arch or the other side is controlled by Consortium. At least during Season 1, Kiel did mention she wanted to take the Fractals out of Consortium control, and there's zero Consortium influence around the gate ever since Lion's Arch was rebuilt after Season 2.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Konig Des Todes.2086

[Kalavier.1097]

20 minutes ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

My theory current theory on Uncategorized is that it was another asuran city which was destroyed in the Great Golem Uprising of 1284, an event that is constantly mentioned in asura lore, but never fully explained. The Raving Asura may have been Dessa's father (as she knew people who worked at Thaumanova, she isn't very old, but as she has no knowledge of sylvari, she is pre-1310 AE for sure, quite possibly no later than 1305 AE, as sylvari should be well known to asura by then), and that's why he has a letter to her specifically. Also possible that he was Dessa's mentor.

Whomever he is, the krewe and lab in the Mists appears to be fully intentional and Dessa's very first leadership.

There is also the letter from raving asura to Dessa, which results in her sadness, with a heart icon. So Raving Asura's identity is an interesting side mystery.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

SPOILERS FOR HEART OF THORNS, LIVING WORLD SEASON 4 AND FRACTALS OF THE MISTS

Its a bit confusing because we only know of a few other city cubes in lore, one being Rata Primus and the other being the cube over Tangled Depths that everyone evacuated to which is elaborated upon in a little side story. (We don't know what happened after this, except that some of them went to Draconis Mons).

 

We know that Dessa was part of a krewe that eventually joined the Inquest (without her), but by the time of the Thamanova incident, they were already old enough that it was hard for Dessa to recognise them, and that was before the start of the game. We also know Dessa was close to someone in the Uncategorised Fractal, and that the Fractal has some kind of special meaning to her.

We also know there's an area between Metrica and Tangled Depths containing the aformentioned cube, Malyck's tree, and likely a small Asura civilisation. Rata Sum is also close enough to be seen from Dragon's Stand, visually.

 

We also know that Dessa's labratory in the Fractals existed before she disappeared.

 

So what happened?

- The person or krewe that died in Uncategorised was close to Dessa, but she wasn't there. She might've started the Fractal project to research what happened after this tragedy.

- The cube that crashed could've been the one the Rata Novan's evacuated to, which likely would've thrived in the sky safe from the Chak until the point where none of them even remembered Rata Novus generations later. It likely would've crashed after being attacked by wyverns during Modremoth's pre-awakening era. (The Shadow of the Dragon was present in the Dream at the start of the game, so he was already semi-awake for some time.)

- The city was likely a precursor to Rata Sum, as the devs said its not Rata Sum itself. Knowledge of its technology would've eventually be used to build Rata Sum in a very similar way, further supporting the idea that it was an evolution (and to an extent, devolution) of Rata Novus.

- There's also the kitty kat golems, which are somehow connected to Dessa and Arkk as well. Obviously, Arkk had a father, so perhaps his father is the one who perished in the incident. Its possible that Arkk's father was the Raving Asura himself who took his own life after costing the lives of many others. Maybe he created the kitty kat golems for his son to play with, or take care of him. The kitty cat golems also could've been the first generation of modern golem design, which are later mass produced.

- Dessa and Arkk aren't neccessarily dead, as Fractal echoes exist even of people who are still alive. Either they died somehow later or we've just never met them, or its already past their time since like I said, by the time of Thamanova before the start of the game, Dessa's krewe had already aged significantly.

- The fact that Dessa's krewe joins the Inquest without her suggests she was already gone by this time. Arkk's maturity (being an adult by the time of Chaos Isles), also suggests that Dessa was already quite old herself when she disappeared into the Mists. Another idea is that Arkk was young when Dessa disappeared and he spent so much time trying to free his mother that he died of old age without realising it, which would explain how he's able to visibly age between Fractals despite being trapped in a time loop.

 

There's another possible explanation: The Desert Borderlands has a city cube eerily similar to what we see in the Uncategorised Fractal, which serves as the red team's keep.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Mariyuuna.6508

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

3 hours ago, Mariyuuna.6508 said:

-snip-

 

So what happened?

- The person or krewe that died in Uncategorised was close to Dessa, but she wasn't there. She might've started the Fractal project to research what happened after this tragedy.

- The cube that crashed could've been the one the Rata Novan's evacuated to, which likely would've thrived in the sky safe from the Chak until the point where none of them even remembered Rata Novus generations later. It likely would've crashed after being attacked by wyverns during Modremoth's pre-awakening era. (The Shadow of the Dragon was present in the Dream at the start of the game, so he was already semi-awake for some time.)

- The city was likely a precursor to Rata Sum, as the devs said its not Rata Sum itself. Knowledge of its technology would've eventually be used to build Rata Sum in a very similar way, further supporting the idea that it was an evolution (and to an extent, devolution) of Rata Novus.

This would make zero sense chronologically.

1. Rata Sum was established in 1078 AE, in GW1. No cube then, and what was established ended up becoming Soren Draa in GW2, but it was Rata Sum in GW1.
2. Rata Novus was established sometime after 1080 AE, after GW1 ended. It was wiped out in 1173 AE - over 150 years before GW2.
3. Thaumanova exploded relatively recently, likely in 1324 AE.
4. Arkk, Dessa's son, was aware of Scarlet's actions in 1326/1327 AE.

There is no way that the cube over Rata Novus was Rata Sum's precursor - Rata Sum came before Rata Novus. Further, there is no way that Dessa was alive when Rata Novus was wiped out, as asura can only live up to about 120 years of age - even if Dessa disappeared before the sylvari were born (23 years before GW2 begins in 1325), if she was over 150 years old, her collueges could not be at Thaumanova in 1324, nor could her son be of decent age in 1326 and think Dessa was still alive somewhere.

There's also no indication the cube near Rata Novus is anything but a part of Rata Novus - after all in the story mission if you do the side achievement, Rata Novus connects right to it. That was likely the city proper, and we were just in one small part of it in HoT. And since the cube is by all indication Novus itself, it wouldn't have been used as a prototype for Rata Sum, since the Novans were isolated and remained distant from Rata Sum inhabitants - even in their evacuation.

 

Either way, Dessa's story has zero relation to Rata Novus. The timelines are just impossible to line up to make that so.

[mandala.8507]

From context clues we can make a couple of sequential deductions:

• Dessa existed in Tyria proper sometime between the establishment of Lion's Arch as a Pirate Haven and when the Sylvari first awoke beneath the Pale tree. This would be between 1230 and 1300 (give or take a few years maybe on this ending date).
• We also know that Arkk is Dessa's son and he existed in Tyria proper up until the death of Mordremoth in 1328 created a surge of magic that he used to penetrate the Mists and set up his own fractal lab.
• On top of this, we know that Asura she knew in her real life were alive and not decrepit in 1324 in the Thaumanova Reactor project.

The window, to me, is that Dessa was doing her fractal research sometime between 1280 and 1300.

If we're willing to go out on the most stable of limbs here, we can conclude pretty certainly that the Raving Asura was Dessa's boyfriend who she mentions she lost to the Consortium and that he is also Arkk's father.

If we also ignore the microaggressions in this thread, we can note that Dessa is the krewe chief of the fractals project and that she studied in Rata Sum before she eventually left for some reason.

The Raving Asura was very likely one of her biggest partners in the krewe that ended up being seduced into doing fractal research for a nascent and less established Consortium.

When the Consortium attempted to set up a gate in LA they probably repurposed gate materials from their partnership with the Raving Asura and accidentally reestablished a connection to Dessa's lab in the Mists, only this time it was just a functioning fractal echo as her lab must have collapsed in the Mists at some point as well.

They then try to monetize it because that's just what they do.

I think it's literally this simple.

You could then go down the rabbit hole of where exactly the Asura are getting all this magic to do these crazy things and what's going on with the shadow government of Rata Sum that seems to have a role in all the nefarious sideshows including the Inquest and the Consortium and what that implies about the history of the Asura and their future post dragon cycle, but I have a suspicion the writers will be tackling all that sometime relatively soon.